1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ophthalmologic apparatus such as an ophthalmologic measuring apparatus for measuring intraocular pressure, refracting power, a corneal shape, and the like of an examinee's eye, and an ophthalmologic image-pickup apparatus for filming a predetermined region of an examinee's eye.
2. Description of the Related Art
Alignment operations for aligning an optical system specific to an ophthalmologic apparatus with a predetermined optimum position of an examinee's eye have been known. Recently, an ophthalmologic apparatus has been developed having an auto-alignment mechanism for automatically performing the alignment by combining various image analyses and indexing analyses with a driving means of an optical unit including the optical system. In the auto-alignment mechanism, there is one system where alignment control is continued until alignment is completed, while a method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.8-117188 in that if the alignment is not completed within a predetermined period of time, the alignment is canceled by determining it as alignment failure. There is also a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.10-328141 that provides a switch for stopping transition to the measurement operation even though the alignment is completed.
As a drawback in an auto-alignment device, automatic alignment performed by the device on an examinee's eye inspires terror to many examinees. Numerous examinees are especially frightened of a non-contact ophthalmotonometer, in which the distance between an eye and an objective lens is small and air is sprayed further into the eye.
Such an examinee requires patient assistance, such as fixing the examinee's head position or raising the examinee's eyelid by an operator such as a doctor.
However, in conventional auto-alignment systems mentioned above, the alignment control is continued on a frightened examinee, causing great pain to the examinee. Even when a time-out function is added as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.8-117188, the control is absolutely continued until the time-out, so that although the pain of an examinee is reduced, the problem is unsolved. Also, even in the case disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.10-328141 where the measurement initiation after the alignment completion is controlled with a switch, the alignment control is continued so as to similarly inflict pain on the examinee, and furthermore, since an operator is asked to operate the switch, this is also a burden on the operator.